Wind energy reaches 28,138 MW installed and calls for accelerating its development as a solution towards a new economic and energy model that minimizes dependence on foreign sources.
Spain has increased wind power by 842.6 MW in 2021, adding a total of 28,138 installed wind MW. A figure that contributes to the search for the path of energy security in Europe.
Spain is the second European country for installed wind power after Germany. Wind power in Europe is concentrated in 5 countries: Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, France and Sweden. In 2021, Spain has been the ninth European country that has installed the most wind power.
Wind power produces 23% of the electricity consumed in our country, being the first technology in the mix for contribution to demand coverage and the first for installed power.
The Wind Energy Business Association (AEE) today presents the figures of the new wind power installed in 2021 within the framework of the conference ‘Wind Power and the Market’, an analysis of the economic integration of this technology in the electricity supply.
Installed wind power in Spain reaches 28,138.1 MW with 842.61 new MW in 2021. In relation to the contribution of renewable technologies, wind power has contributed 49.23% of the total, being the first renewable technology , followed by hydraulic (26.19%) and photovoltaic (16.88%).
Annual and accumulated evolution of installed wind power in Spain
Source: ESA
In Spain, wind energy is present in practically all the autonomous communities, except for Madrid, Ceuta and Melilla. During 2021, the autonomous communities that have installed the most wind power have been Aragón (275.7 MW), followed by Castilla y León (155.4 MW), Asturias (126 MW), Canarias (104.4 MW), Galicia (68 .9 MW), Castilla-La Mancha (68.7 MW) and Andalucía (43.5 MW). For its total installed wind power, Castilla y León remains in first place with 6,403 MW, followed by Aragón (4,435.4 MW) and Castilla-La Mancha (3,954 MW).
Accumulated installed wind power in Autonomous Communities
Source: ESA
In total, there are 1,298 wind farms in Spain, with 21,574 wind turbines installed. We have more than 250 manufacturing centers present in sixteen of the seventeen autonomous communities. In relation to the total accumulated installed power in Spain, the wind turbine manufacturers that lead the ranking are Siemens Gamesa, Vestas, GE, Nordex-Acciona WindPower and Enercon. In Spain we have 100% of the entire supply chain dedicated to the national market and to exports.
The five promoter companies that have installed the most wind megawatts throughout 2021 have been Iberdrola, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), Arjun Investment Partners, EDPR and Enel Green Power.
Spain ranks ninth in the ranking of countries that have installed the most wind power in Europe in 2021. Currently, wind power in Europe produces more than 18% of the electricity consumed on the continent and installed wind power is concentrated in five countries, with Spain being the second country with the highest wind power.
In January of this year, wind energy saved 849 million euros for consumers in Spain. A new 5 MW wind turbine, which works 3,000 equivalent hours per year, avoids the import of 30,000 thermal MWh of gas, which at a reference price of €200/MWht, represents 6 million euros of savings for the consumer. For each wind turbine that is not installed on time, we lose the opportunity to take fossil energy out of the pool and dedicate those 6 million euros to the Spanish economy as a whole. In addition, the opportunity to generate employment for the construction of the parks and the manufacture of the components is lost.
Key technology for the Energy Transition and the reduction of dependence on imported energy in Spain
Wind power has shown that it is a fundamental piece for defending the competitiveness of the Spanish economy and for the creation of a new economic model that is more independent from abroad. Added to the challenge of continuing to advance in the energy transition is the challenge of reducing the EU’s energy dependency. The wind sector in Spain is prepared to contribute its full potential to these challenges.
The situation of the runaway prices of the main fossil energy products, and their effect on the price of electricity in the wholesale market, means that the countries in the EU must adopt joint and consensual measures. “We must seamlessly accelerate the implementation of renewables, always with absolute respect for the environment and maximizing benefits in the territories. Administrative processing is one of the main workhorses. We must be able to comply with the provisions of the Renewables Directive, that is, be able to process a new installation in 2 years and a repowered installation in 1 year. European countries must join forces and prioritize permitting as a critical issue for our energy, economic and industrial resilience”, highlights Juan Virgilio Márquez, general director of the Wind Energy Business Association.
In the same way, “we must maintain the environments of trust for investment already achieved during these years in Europe. Wind companies have a long-term vocation and have always valued regulatory stability, legal certainty and attracting investors to environments of trust as the main pillars for progress towards decarbonisation objectives.
